Surgical Outcomes of Biceps femoris Muscle Biopsy in Cattle

Abstract

The biceps femoris muscle is of mixed fiber-type involved in locomotion and hind limb support. Repeat sampling allows the characterization of changes between animals in their muscle fiber type that occur with maturation. The transition of muscle fiber type as a result of dietary treatments or exposure to growth promoters can be characterized through sampling of this muscle. The biceps femoris is a large muscle (~30 lb or 13.6 kg/ carcass) component of the outside round of moderate retail value. There is economic value in targeting this muscle for improvements in tenderness, water-retention, color and marbling. We report outcomes on 78 cattle that underwent a simple, novel surgical biopsy procedure for analysis of carcass growth characteristics as part of a high versus low efficiency EPD selection of sires study.